- Bids to keep the location of 87 genetically modified
(GM) crop sites secret have been rejected and the sites could be published
on a government website in four weeks time.
-
- The Office of the Gene Technology Regulator said today
it had rejected appeals by six companies and universities to suppress information
about field trial sites.
-
- It published the locations of more than 500 GM crops
last month but agribusiness companies Monsanto and Pacific Seeds, pharmaceutical
supplier GlaxoSmithKline, and the universities of Queensland, Western Australia
and La Trobe had applied to keep some sites secret.
-
- Acting gene technology regulator Liz Cain said all the
applications had been assessed in five weeks but she had found no reason
not to release the information.
-
- "None of the applications for confidential commercial
information submitted had provided any evidence or other material that
would enable me to be satisfied that significant damage would be likely
to occur to the health and safety of people, the environment or to property
if the locations of the field trials were disclosed," she said.
-
- The sites include crops of GM cotton, canola and legumes.
-
- Ms Cain said the six organisations had 28 days to appeal
against her decision.
-
- "After that time, if no appeal proceeds, I will
ensure that all relevant details about these sites, including locations,
will be placed on the website," she said.
-
- The first release of 83 per cent of GM crop locations
showed the cotton growing areas of northern NSW were ground zero for GM
trials.
-
- The GM cotton had been modified to make it resistant
to either insects or chemicals in a bid to cut the amount of pesticides
used by farmers, while one variety was more resistant to water logging.
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- http://news.ninemsn.com.au/sci_tech/story_16870.asp ___
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- Monsanto Refuses To Accept Ruling To Reveal Locations
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- 8-12-1
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- Company rejects decision to reveal GM crop locations
-
- The multinational crop company Monsanto plans to appeal
against a decision, forcing it to reveal the locations of its trials of
genetically modified (GM) crops.
-
- The Gene Technology Regulator has rejected applications
by Monsanto, Glaxo SmithKline and other groups to keep the locations of
their crop trials a secret.
-
- The sites of more than 600 crop trials are already publicly
available, and there is a one-month appeal period before the regulator
will put locations of the remaining 87 trials on its website.
-
- Monsanto's Brian Arnst says the farmers involved have
asked the company to make an appeal.
-
- "Confidentiality's important to them because they
have concerns about trespass and property damage, particularly in some
of the shires or some of the regions where there is I guess quite a lot
of anti feeling about these trials," he said.
-
- http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/environment/2001/08/item20010810170216_1.htm
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